This invention generally relates to a control system for a holding cabinet and, more particularly, to a modular assembly for a holding cabinet controller capable of maintaining food products stored in the holding cabinet at an appropriate temperature and conveying information regarding the stored food products.
In today""s demanding and fast-paced marketplace, customers frequently patronize establishments that consistently delivery a quality product in a short period of time. This is especially true in the food service industry, where xe2x80x9cfast foodxe2x80x9d restaurants compete to deliver food products as quickly as possible while preserving the quality of the taste, consistency, and appearance of the food.
Due to time constraints inherent in the fast food industry, it would be inefficient to display food preparation until after a customer has placed an order. Instead, food typically is cooked and then stored in a holding cabinet, for example, before ultimately being distributed to a customer. In general, the holding cabinet is designed to store food at temperatures sufficient to preserve the quality of the food and to enable the food to be served quickly. Such temperatures must be carefully monitored in order to avoid overcooking and reheating which may detrimentally alter the quality of the food.
Operators of fast food restaurants may face further challenges as such establishments often maintain a large volume of different food products. Each type of food product may present different requirements. For example, different foods may require different storage temperatures and may have different shelf lives, i.e., time limits after which the food products are no longer sellable and must be destroyed. As the number of offered food products increases, so does the complexity of a system capable of maintaining all the different types of food products.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a holding cabinet and control system structured and arranged to maintain multiple categories of food products and to convey information regarding food products stored in the holding cabinet.
In one general aspect, a cabinet maintains one or more food products at a predetermined temperature. The cabinet may include at least one modular shelving unit capable of interconnecting with one or more additional modular shelving units. Each modular shelving unit may include a passageway for storing food products, a display for presenting information regarding food products stored in the passageway, and a control system for individually controlling the operations of the modular shelving unit.
Implementations may include one or more of the following features. For example, the modular shelving unit may include at least one bezel assembly and/or a heater assembly. The bezel assembly may include a display screen and a slot forming an opening of the passageway. The display screen may include a vacuum florescent display and include touch screen functionality.
The heater assembly may maintain food products at a particular temperature and may include frame components supporting a top heater plate and bottom heater plate. The frame components may include interconnection wiring capable of communicating with interconnection wiring of one or more additional modular shelving units. The heater assembly may include a temperature sensor for providing temperature detection signals to the control system. At least part of the control system may be included within the bezel assembly and/or the heater assembly.
The modular shelving unit may include a position sensor for detecting location of food products within the passageway. The position sensor may provide position indication signals to the control system.
The control system may include switching circuitry for controlling the temperature of the passageway. The control system may include a network interface for sending and receiving communication data (e.g., infrared communication data and/or radio frequency communication data). The network interface may include a modem, communication card, transmitter, and/or a network adapter.
Aspects of the present invention may be implemented by an apparatus and/or by a computer program stored on a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium may include a disk, a device, and/or a propagated signal.